Condensate reheater



Aug. 26, 1930.-

P. A. BAN CEL GONDENSATE 'REHEATER INVENTOR Paul .ZlI-Dane l/.

Filed Nov. 20, 1926 HIS Arrb Y Patented 2 6, 1930 UNIT D, S AT .VPVAUL A. BANGEL; OFMNUTLEY; New innsily hsslenon To inennsonmmnn commit,

or my cum) mew amtsnx, zr'conr'onA'rlon ox n-11w JERSEY a "ooNnENsA'rn nmijnernnf Application-filedmaveihber 2o; nizm Serial 1%. 149,051. r f

This invention relates to/ condensersan d with respect to its morespecific' featuresf to condensate reheaters. a 1 w One. type of condensate reheaten to which this invention relates. more particularly is that in .which exhaust steam isv supplied to contact directly with. the condensate.v Usually exhauststeam is bledl froma point of a relatively high zibsolfltepreSsure and. the" air I wand uncondensible gases. the reheateris vented backto: the condenser at. a: point ofsubstantially a maximum degree; of: vacuum 1n the condenser. Thls results' n aloss-oif. ef-

' Ificiency since the" high degree of vacuum at 15 the: vent results in a pathof .less resistance for the steam in the conduit bleeding steam from the condenser to the reheater; vthan in themain path through. the condenser. between 7 corresponding points. v

An'ecobjectofjthis. invention is to substantially the. same resistance to the. flow I, of the steam supplied to the reheater and thence mum vacuum pumn as exists through the condenser proper. Thisis' obtained; in the; preferred form of the invention by ventingthe condensate reheater to a point the condenser at. aregion of lower a-bsolutepres sure than exists at-the stea-m entrancegbut not the lowest pressure within thecond'enser.

I Thereasontfor producingjthe-same resistance" through the reheater toc-th'eipoint ot discharge into the condenser as occurs throu-ghthe condenser to the point atwhich air and uncons- Y rlensible gases are: returnedto the condenser upon the: smooth flow of steam. over the tubes.

" When thercondenseris of. proper design the smooth fiow of steam to'the points of dis- 40 eliminatesv dead, spots-orair pockets-rthat would otherwise be. caused by turbulence. is at once evident that afreturn of air and ported bythe floor slab F. y a r I v r The condensateiw-ithdrawn.irointheoutlet from the reheater is as follows: Efficient-op eration of the eondensendepends largely chargelof condensate andiuncondensible gases the of undesirable spots andv air pockets. 1

:Since theivelocitylof the; flu'i l"passing substantially oft-steam a that existingin the main body The invention willfbe rnnre clearly under-- stoodby reterence to theaccon1panying;drawings forming part of the specification and in which is 'shownzdiagraminatically a condenser, parts-being; shown in 'crosssectio'n. toillustrate'theoperation more: clearly.

Referring to the drawing, the invention is shown appliedto: aconden'ser having a shell A. and I an. inlet pipe B for admitting; the

steam tohecondensedf Theconden'ser is of l the type commonlyknownas a. surface condenser-in which there. is provided a plurality of. tubesG; arra1 1gedtransverse to the direc-v tion of steam flow withini the: casing A toward the-condensate outlet;-;D .i 'The shell A;

showhmountedion a concretebase Eand its steam inletipipe-B is adapted:to beconnected I 'iniany suitble manner with. aturbinejsup D is,,ofconrs e, merely pure water and usu;

ally itis desirable to rel-'usethis-for' boiler.

Prior to its injectioninter-the boiler; the-condensate is, in the most approved? practice,' reheated. by stearn;drawn from a suitable 7' point infthe system. It isgpreferabl'e. that v I this steam. shall have converted a part of. its V heat into nechanicalenergy, although alarge part vof the ghall remains latent in the: steam-j and it is. convenient toutilize-th'is'latent heat the temperature of the conden-r for raising sate,

the condensate. is shown in the drawingiand includes a chamber Gr connected by means of A convenient; arrangement p for: reheating a pipe Hto the condensate outlet 1) fromfthe' casing'A: and provided with a weir Jconnect- L ,t ins as r p%-t0-p nt h -re fga I denser [This is one :of the ;chief causes', of steamthroughthe pipe orthis 0 i pose the rim of the weir J is elevated at least to the level of the entrance orifice K connected to the pipe H so that the water lever submerges the orifice at all times.

The reheating steam is admitted to the chamber G below the weir J so that any gas or uncondensible vapor must pass through the sheet of water passing over the weir- J in. order to leave the chamber G. The reheating steam for chamber G is supplied through a pipe L at an orifice O situated below the weir J, the pipe L being connected with a suitable orifice P formed integrally with the inlet pipe B. Preferably thestearn inlet P is formed with an upwardly directed mouth, as shown at Q, so that a current of steam is directed into the pipe L. Y

In order to create a flow of steam through the pipe L and into the chamber G, it is desirable that a suitable vacuum should be formed within said chamber and maintained for, if this is not done, air and uncondensible gases will collect in the chamber G and cause a back pressure suflicient to stop the flow of steam. To this end there is provided an air outlet pipe R leading from the upper part of the chamber Gr back to the interior of the condenser shell A. The vacuum produced by suitable evacuating means (not shown) is suflicient to withdraw the uncondensible air and vapor from the chamber G thereby maintaining the desired vacuum therein.

Hitherto it has been the practice to connect the air removal pipe or vent R at the region from which air and uncondensible gas is withdrawn from the condenser shell A, as for instance is indicated by S. It hasbeen found that this practice tends to create a partial shortcircuit around the tubes C so that far too great a proportion of steam passes through the pipe L and more than can be utilized in reheating the condensate in the chamber G. By this invention it is proposed to produce a path for the steam through the chamber G and thence to the air evacuating means having a pressure drop commensurate with the corresponding drop between the steam inletpipe and the region S for air withdrawal. To this end the air withdrawal pipe R from the reheater chamber Gris connected with the shell A at a region of pressure higher than that existing at S or the lower outlet of the main condenser shell A. The air withdrawal pipe R is therefore connected to the casing A at an opening T relatively remote from the region S whereby the gases entering the opening T are caused to pass around some of the tubes C in order to reach and enter the orifice b. In this instance the opening T is located at the side of'the shell and a guard U is provided to prevent condenate from flowing into this opening, and

the stream lines of the main body of steam will not be disturbed thereby.

The removal of the air and uncondensible gases at the orifice Z) may be accomplished in any suitable manner. In this embodiment there is indicated a cooler and devaporizer V for such a mixture. At this point it should .be noted that the residual gas entering the G, the eXcesso-f steam will be condensed by the cold tubes and not drawn into the cooler. The reheated condensate from the chamber G is withdrawn through an opening vV near the bottom of the chamber and a pipe X con nected therewi h by means of a suitable pump Y and delivered through a discharge pipeYZ to a suitable point for feeding into the boiler (not shown), p y Thus by the above construction are accomplished, amon fore referred to.

fIclaim:

1. The combination of a condenser having an outlet for condensate, a reheater for said conden'sate,a pipe leading from the reheater to return air and uncondensible gases collected therein back to the condenser, and means on the condenser adyacent said pipe to direct the returned air and uncondensible gases across the condenser in a path substantially normal to the flow of condensate towards the outlet and to prevent said condensate from entering the return pipe.

2. The combination ofa condenser having an outlet for condensate formed by the cooling means of said condenser, areheater for said condensate, a pipe leading from the re heater to return air and uncondensible gases collected therein back to the condenser a point above the outlet, means to Withdraw the returned air and uncondensible gases from the condenser, said means beinglocated at a pointrelatively remote from the point of connection of the return pipe, and a battle on the condenser adjacent said pipe to direct the returned air and uncondensible gases across the condenser cooling means to the air withdrawal means in a path'substan tially normal to the flow of condensate to wards the outlet and to prevent said con densate from entering the return pipe.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification.

' PAUL A. BANCEL.

g others, the objects liereinbe- 

